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2020 1441–1442 GREGORIAN HIJRI shows how the emerges from the mythical Mountains of the Moon (now Ethiopia), flows through multiple cataracts and heads north, crosses the to pass through the lands of Nubia, Aswan and Beja toward Fustat (medieval ) and finishes in the Nile Delta near Dumyat (Damietta), where it empties into the . Cartographers replicated this depiction of the Nile in various ways in every cartographic manuscript thereafter for centuries. As copies proliferated throughout the medieval Islamic Middle East, this helped establish what became, in effect, the world’s first geographical series. Introduction and captions by KAREN C. PINTO The maps pictured for the months of May and August are by different authors from that “Islamic atlas series” spawned by al-Khwarizmi. May shows the exceptional, three-folio map The richest–surviving heritage of premodern maps of the world of the Mediterranean Sea from a late-11th-century copy of Ibn comes to us from the Middle East and Central and Inner . Hawqal’s Kitab surat al-‘ard. It is the earliest-known copy of the most-mimetic map of the Mediterranean. On it one can see the outlines of the Iberian Peninsula, the Calabrian Peninsula, the Al-Khwarizmi’s rom the Babylonian clay tablet of 600 bce to Katip as the Bahr al-Muhit (Encircling Ocean), which was the most Peloponnese, Constantinople, the map of the Nile Çelebi’s map of Japan drawn in 1732, geographers and basic marker of world maps up through medieval periods. For Bosporus, southeastern , became a model cartographers of the Islamic world drew upon Greek, many Muslims, it held the footprint of the throne of God cited in the , and North F for depicting the Babylonian, Syriac, Sassanian, Indian, Chinese, Turkic and the Qur’an, and it thus became a divine band protecting the ; it shows key cities, moun- European knowledge to produce a new, atlas-like genre of world. tains and rivers, along with major river in nearly detailed maps of the world known to them. Until recently With the start of the and the conquests of the islands of the Mediterranean. every cartographic these maps lay virtually untouched, often ignored on the mid-seventh century, we hear of commanders commissioning August displays two magnif- manuscript for grounds that they are not mimetically accurate representa- maps for military and jizya (poll-tax) purposes, but none of icent maps from Leiden Univer- centuries. tions of lands and seas. these are known to have survived the passage of time. The ear- sity Library’s regally sized and This perspective overlooks the great contribution of Islamic liest-surviving examples of Islamic mapping comes in fresco lavishly illustrated Ms. Or. 3101. One shows the province of maps to the development of the history of . The maps form, from an early-eighth-century Umayyad hammam, the , with the Indus River running across the land of Buddha show how Muslims perceived the world from the time of the first unesco World Heritage site of Qusayr ‘Amra, a desert retreat and Hind to al-Mansura (present-day Multan) and the land of civilizations until the late Renaissance. The abundance of copies of the prince and future caliph al-Walid ii. Tucked away in the medieval Sindh before emptying into the . The produced in many places across the Middle East, , sand and sun of the desert that separates Jordan from Syria and second map depicts the between the mountains of Anatolia and Central Asia over a millennium testifies to the endur- Iraq, the hammam is capped with a painting of a Ptolemaic star Daylam and Samarkand along what was then the central Silk ing importance of these cartographic visions—as laid out in this fresco. Less well known is the earliest-surviving mimetic depic- Road. These are among the earliest examples of al-’s resplendent calendar of images, medieval Islamic and Ottoman. tion of the moon: At the entrance to the hammam, this small Kitab al-masalik wa al-mamalik (Book of routes and realms), Starting in January with the famous Babylonian clay tablet, image precedes the earliest-known European efforts by at least which dates from 1193 ce. Al-Istakhri’s went on we see on display the concern seven centuries. February lays out this moon map of Qusayr to become the most heavily copied work of the Islamic atlas The abundance of with mapping the lands of ‘Amra with a special focus on georeferencing, for comparison, a series, with copies surfacing even from mid-18th-century copies produced in Mesopotamia, its empires, contemporary image of the moon. Mughal . Depicting a highly stylized world of symbolic so many places over rivers and sea. Beyond lie With March we get one of the earliest-known maps depicting shapes, the manuscript was likely produced as a wedding gift mysterious triangular islands for Constance, daughter of Norman King Roger ii. It was 1,000 years testifies the Nile. This is also an example of one of the earliest Islamic shrouded in the mist of maps produced on paper. This one was part of an 11th-century perused by many a European dignitary, including and espe- to the importance myths about Gilgamesh and manuscript copy of al-Khwarizmi’s Kitab surat al-‘ard (Book cially Constance’s son, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick ii. of Islamic-world others. All are encircled by of a picture of the earth) published in English under the title June also reflects Sicilian-Norman influence, this time with cartographic visions. a conjoined ocean, known The Oriental Geography of Ebn Hawqal (1800). Al-Khwarizmi the earliest map depicting medieval , which was found in the recently discovered 13th-century copy of the Book of Curi- that the 16th-century cartographic illustrator Matrakçı Nasuh osities manuscript. It lays out Sicily’s key cities of Palermo, developed to depict the territorial passages of Ottoman mil- Messina, Syracuse and Trapani so clearly that it could have itary campaigns. Each image from Nasuh—in what could be The Hijri Calendar served as a conqueror’s roadmap. described as the first attempt at 3D—is a visual feast. We chose to In 638 CE, six years after the death of the Prophet Rounding out the symbiotic intellectual relations of Muslims show Nasuh’s image of Baghdad—its earliest-extant city view. , ’s second caliph, ‘Umar, rec- and Christian Normans in Sicily, September shows the work of November depicts the legendary map frag- ognized the necessity of a calendar to govern the Arab cartographer best known in the West, al-Sharif al-Din ment credited to Ottoman naval admiral , who was born the affairs of Muslims. The Qur’an, in Chapter al-Idrisi. In the mid-12th century, King Roger ii commissioned in 1470 and died in 1554. The subject of many controversial stud- 10, Verse 5, states that time should be reckoned al-Idrisi to produce an illustrated geography of the world called ies, the shows astonishingly accurate coastlines not by the Moon. Existing of the era were Kitab nuzhat al-mushtaq fi’kh tiraq al-afaq (The book of only for Central and but also . identified with other religions and cultures. He pleasant journeys into faraway lands). The 70 individual maps December depicts Katip Çelebi’s map of Japan, which effec- therefore decided to create a calendar specifically that accompany the copies of al-Idrisi’s manuscript are extremely tively signals the close of Islamic cartographic originality, as for the Muslim community. It would be lunar, and detailed representa- copies and techniques of European take center stage in it would have 12 months, each with 29 or 30 days. tions of the world, well the field. While translating Gerardus Mercator’s Atlas Minor This gives the lunar year 354 days, 11 days fewer Nasuh’s cartographically ahead of their time. Not into Ottoman Turkish in 1653–1655, Çelebi also made copies than the solar year. ‘Umar chose as the for illustrated histories only are the al-Idrisi of Mercator’s maps, which he labeled in Ottoman Turkish. the new Muslim calendar the Hijra, the emigration could be described as maps ranked among There is yet one distinctively Islamic cartographic-copying of the Prophet Muhammad and 70 Muslims from Makkah to Madinah, where Muslims first attained the first attempt at 3D. the most mimetic tradition that continues even into the modern era: the depic- world maps of the later tion, in cartographic forms, of the holy cities of Makkah and religious and political autonomy. The Hijra thus occurred on 1 of the year 1 according to Middle Ages, but they Madinah, as shown in July’s certificate scroll map. Often the . This date corresponds to July also include regional maps that show an astounding under- elaborately illuminated in gold, these scrolls certify the hold- 16, 622 CE, on the . Today in the standing of topography for the 13th century. er’s completion of Hajj, or . West, it is customary, when writing hijri dates, to April takes us to Inner Asia, to the start of Turkic influences, Together, all of the maps produced over this unfathomably use the abbreviation AH, which stands for the Latin with a rare and very early map from the late-11th-century ce long era share one thing in common: They were made on anno hegirae, “year of the Hijra.” Because the -Turkic dictionary Diwan Lughat al-turk (Compendium the basis of sketches, accounts and myths; views from hills, Islamic is 11 days shorter than the of the Turkic Dialects). It presents an Inner Asia-centric view mountains and the masts of ships; supplemented by tradition solar, it is therefore not synchronized to the sea- of the world, with Turkic tribes dotted all around. The date and on the one hand and carefully accumulated data from incre- sons. Its festivals, which fall on the same days of style of this map leave us wondering whether Turks brought the asingly sophisticated navigational and geometric tools on the same lunar months each year, make the round world-envisioning mapping tradition to the Middle East from the other. Although these maps do not display the forms of of the seasons every 33 solar years. This 11-day their vantage points atop the high steppes. the world in the way ours do today, modern atlases and GPS difference between the lunar and the solar year Through the Ottomans, Turkish influences dominate the maps turn out to have much in common with the maps in this accounts for the need to convert dates from one second half of the history of Islamic mapping, beginning with calendar: Systems of shapes, lines, labels, patterns and colors system to the other. —PAUL LUNDE October’s sample of the unique, bird’s-eye topographical views all help us understand the world and invite us to explore it.

Karen C. Pinto has researched medieval Islamic maps in collections around the world for three decades. She is author CONVERTING of Medieval Islamic Maps: An Exploration (University of Chicago Press, 2016), which in 2017 received an Outstanding Years and dates Academic Title (OAT) award from Choice magazine. She holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University, was a 2013–14 National The following equations convert roughly from Gregorian to hijri and vice Endowment for the Humanities Fellow and a 2016 recipient of the Franklin Grant. Her own image collection of more versa. However, the results can be slightly misleading: They tell you only than 3,000 Islamic maps contains many previously unpublished. the year in which the year of the other calendar begins. For example, 2020 On the cover: Its pointer pinned to the site of Makkah in the western Arabian Peninsula, this map is designed to Gregorian begins in Jumada I, the fifth month of hijri 1441, and ends in the determine the qibla, or direction of prayer toward Makkah, from anywhere from Morocco to Japan, north of the Equa- same month 1442. tor. Such maps were practical tools for architects of as well as travelers since the early centuries of Islam. This elegantly painted qibla finder was crafted of lacquered wood in the 18th century and signed by its maker, Barun Gregorian year = Hijri year = al-Mukhtar. It is on display on the Museum of in Cairo. Photo by Richard Doughty. [(32 x hijri year) ÷ 33] + 622 [(Gregorian year – 622) x 33] ÷ 32

Editor: Richard Doughty | Managing Editor: Jennifer Mathlouthi | Assistant Editors: Arthur Clark, Alva Robinson | Digital Media Editor: Johnny Hanson | Circulation: Melissa Altman | Image research intern: Thomas Vazquez | Online calculators can be found by searching Design: Graphic Engine Design | Printing: RR Donnelley / Wetmore. “Gregorian-hijri calendar calculator” or similar terms.

Found on a small, unbaked clay tablet, 122 by 82 millimeters in size, this Babylonian inscription circa NOTES: 600 BCE contains the earliest-known map of the world. Centered on Babylon with the Euphrates River running north to south, it shows the lands of Assyria and Armenia in close proximity. An encircling ocean surrounds the Babylonian world, and dotted triangular islands serve, according to text surrounding the image, as cosmographic symbols. A closer look reveals the swamps of and the hooked form of the Arabian Gulf. PHOTO: World History Archive / Alamy

Monday Wednesday Friday Saturday DECEMBER 2019 6789 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1234 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Ziad Rahbani, Lebanese 8,000-year-old cave 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 composer and son of Fairuz, paintings found in Egypt 30 31 born 1956 1971 10 5 11 6 12 7 13 8 14 9 15 10 16 11

Author, poet and artist Egypt begins Aswan High Kahlil Gibran born 1883 Dam construction 1960 17 12 18 13 19 14 20 15 21 16 22 17 23 18

Bashkir poet and playwright Shaikhzada Pop star Zayn Malik Muhametzakirovich uli born 1993 Babich born 1895 24 19 25 20 26 21 27 22 28 23 29 24 30 25

Kyrgyzstan National Seattle joins Tashkent Playwright Mirzabek as a sister city 1973 Toybaev born 1935

1 2 3 4 5 6 FEBRUARY 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Mamluk Qaitbay 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 begins near-30-year reign 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 1468

JUMADA I 1441 – JUMADA IIJANUARY aramcoworld.com

Entering the UNESCO World Heritage site of Qusayr ‘Amra (723–743 CE)—famous for some of the earliest examples of Islamic art and the earliest-extant Ptolemaic star chart (left)—visitors are greeted by a painting that could be the earliest-extant portrait of the moon. It shows an ovoid, globular form with a brown marking being delivered by an angel to the Umayyad prince al-Walid ibn Yazid (706– 744 CE), eventually caliph al-Walid II. This image precedes European efforts to depict the moon by at least seven centuries. Analysis by a georeference comparison with an image of the moon from the desert of Wadi Rum in southern Jordan shows striking parallels with the fresco. MAIN PHOTO AND INSET: Karen C. Pinto; GEOREFERENCE SEQUENCE (6): Kathleen M. Baker, W. E. Upjohn Center for the Study of Geographical Change at Western Michigan University Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday JANUARY MARCH 7 1 234 1 2 3 4 567 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 1 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 India’s Gurkani (Mughal) 26 27 28 29 30 31 28 29 30 31 28 29 30 31 Empire enters classical Sunday Monday 29 30 31 29 30 31 29 30 31 age under 1556 8 2 9 3 10 4 11 5 12 6 13 7 14 8

British American economist Arab Colombian singer Dame Nemat Shafik born Shakira born 1977 1962 15 9 16 10 17 11 18 12 19 13 20 14 21 15

Alhambra declared national Coronation of Mughal Mughal princess and poet monument of 1870 Emperor Shah Jahan, 1628 Zeb-un-nisa born 1638 22 16 23 17 24 18 25 19 26 20 27 21 28 22

First flight across the 1920 29 23 30 24 1 25 2 26 3 27 4 28 5 29

Franciscus Raphelengius, ’s first printer of Arabic outside Rome, born 1539

JUMADA II – FEBRUARY aramcoworld.com

The earliest-surviving Arabic manuscript containing maps is a copy of al-Khwarizmi’s 1037 CE Kitab surat al- NOTES: ‘ard (Book of a picture of the earth). Composed of zij tables containing longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates, it includes four maps. The map of the Nile shows its famous cataracts as the river emerges from the mythical Mountains of the Moon, crosses the equator and heads north past the lands of Nubia, Aswan and the Beja, toward Fustat (medieval Cairo) and the Delta near Dumyat (Damietta), where it empties into the Mediterranean Sea. PHOTO: Karen C. Pinto / Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire, Strasbourg

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 6145677 8 32 9 10 11 12

Uzbekistan National Writer Electronic music pioneer Muhammad Ali born 1942 Halim El-Dabh born 1921 13 8 14 9 15 10 16 11 17 12 18 13 19 14

Moroccan author and artist Lebanon establishes Horsh Palestinian poet Mohammed Mrabet born Eden as a protected area Mahmoud Darwish born 1936 1992 1941 20 15 21 16 22 17 23 18 24 19 25 20 26 21

Caliph Harun al-Rashid, patron of the arts, born Kyrgyz poet Alykul 763 CE Osmonov born 1915 27 22 28 23 29 24 1 25 2 26 3 27 4 28

Astronomer and Sultan House of Knowledge in Ottoman explorer born 1394 Cairo inaugurated 1005 CE Evliya Çelebi born 1611

5 6 7 FEBRUARY APRIL 1 1 234 29 30 31 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Philosopher Maimonides 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 26 27 28 29 30 born 1138 CE

RAJAB – SHA`ABAN MARCH aramcoworld.com

The earliest Turkic-Arabic dictionary, al-Kashgari’s late-11th-century CE Diwan Lughat al-Turk (Compendium of the Turkic Dialects), contains this intriguing . Centered on Inner and Central Asia, it shows the locations of Turkic tribes according to linguistic variations. This is the only extant copy, and it dates from 1266 CE. Its illustrative style reveals cartographic influences used on Islamic world maps. Red lines demarcate boundaries, dark-green copper for seas and slate gray for rivers, all encased in an encircling band symbolizing the Bahr al-Muhit (Encircling Ocean), with a keyhole form for the Caspian Sea. The grid of lands in the Islamic world, laid out at the bottom of the map, resembles the grid-like structure of al-Biruni’s world maps but different in that it is orientated with north to the left. PHOTO: Daniyar Nietullaev / Millet Yazma Eser Kütüphanesi Ali Emiri Arapça Koleksiyona

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday MARCH MAY 891011 1 2 3 4 567 12 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1234 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Willis (Sears) Tower 29 30 31 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 engineer F. R. Khan 31 born 1929 12 5 13 6 14 7 15 8 16 9 17 10 18 11

“Prince of Tidore” and prolific author of kitabs Pan-Islamic newspaper brought to Cape Town Heinrich Schliemann begins Terjiman begins circulation from Indonesia 1780 to dig for ancient 1870 in Russia 1883 19 12 20 13 21 14 22 15 23 16 24 17 25 18

Easter Kawkab America, ’s first Arabic- First Ouarzazate language newspaper, International Film launches 1892 Festival 2016 26 19 27 20 28 21 29 22 30 23 1 24 2 25

France’s René Caillié becomes first European Mamluks admitted to in Timbuktu 1828 French Imperial Guard 1815 3 26 4 27 5 28 6 29 7 30

Koroglu, an opera based Tatar literary figure on the Epic of Koroghlu, Gabdulla Tuqay born 1886 premieres in Baku 1937

SHA`ABAN – APRIL aramcoworld.com

The rarest set of Arabic maps of the Mediterranean was produced in Kitab surat al-ard (Book of a picture of the earth) by NOTES: 10th-century CE geographer . Dating from 1086 CE, this copy, made in Iraq, is rare for its emphasis on the Mediterranean, as it included both a one-folio macroview of the sea as well as a three-folio spread of it (above). Ibn Hawqal’s map shows the lands encircling the Mediterranean in detail unprecedented for the time: the Iberian Peninsula, the Calabrian Peninsula, the Peloponnese, Constantinople and the Bosporus, southeastern Anatolia, the Levant, Egypt and North Africa. Key cities, mountains and rivers, along with the major islands of the Mediterranean, including Sicily, Crete, Cyprus and Sardinia, add additional layers. PHOTO: Karen C. Pinto / Topkapı Saray Museum Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

APRIL JUNE 89 1 234 1 2 3 456 12 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Shajarat al-Durr begins 26 27 28 29 30 28 29 30 reign as sultana of Egypt 1250 CE 10 3 11 4 12 5 13 6 14 7 15 8 16 9

Robo-restaurant Spyce Pope John Paul II visits Algerian Rai singer Cheikha opens in Boston 2018 Damascus 2001 Rimitti, born 1923 17 10 18 11 19 12 20 13 21 14 22 15 23 16

Egyptian Modernist Abbasid envoy Ibn Fadlan sculptor Mahmoud arrives in Volga region 34 North African camels Mukhtar born 1891 922 CE disembark in Texas 1856 24 17 25 18 26 19 27 20 28 21 29 22 30 23

Vasco da Gama’s ships reach India from Europe 1498 1 24 2 25 3 26 4 27 5 28 6 29 7 30 ‘Id al-Fitr Nur Jahan begins tenure as , “Father of empress consort of Gurkani Sociology,” born in Azeri kamancheh player (Mughal) empire 1611 1332 Habil Aliyev born 1927

8 31 RAMADAN –

Architect Zaha Hadid becomes first woman MAY to win Pritzker Prize 2004 aramcoworld.com

In 2002 the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford acquired the Book of Curiosities manuscript, dating NOTES: from the 12th–13th centuries CE. The manuscript contains a medley of hybrid maps, some unique and others that show the influence of the “Atlas of Islam” tradition, many maps of rivers and a heavily illustrated cosmographical section. Pictured is a 12th-century CE map of Sicily showing the island’s cities: Palermo, Messina, Syracuse and Trapani. It even depicts Sicily’s famous volcano, Mount Etna. PHOTO: Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 9111213141345610 2

Egypt reveals discovery of “Headless Pyramid” at Saqqara 2008 15 7 16 8 17 9 18 10 19 11 20 12 21 13

Astronomer and Pope Innocent VII buys Abu Bakr, first caliph of mathematician Abu al-Wafa’ Mamluk carpets from Süleymaniye Mosque Islam, begins reign 632 CE Buzjani born 940 CE Cairo 1489 cornerstone laid 1550 22 14 23 15 24 16 25 17 26 18 27 19 28 20

Egyptian violinist Ahmad World Congress of al-Hafnawi born 1916 Tatars convenes 1992 29 21 1 22 2 23 3 24 4 25 5 26 6 27

Citadel of Erbil recognized Modern Kazakh literature Bodleian Libraries on World Heritage List pioneer Magjan Jumabayev announce acquisition of 2014 born 1893 Book of Curiosities 2002

7 8 9 MAY JULY 12 1 234 28 29 30 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Arab American Pen League publishes its manifesto in 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 26 27 28 29 30 31 As-Sayeh newspaper 1916 31

SHAWWAL – DHU-AL-QA`DAHJUNE aramcoworld.com

From the late 12th century onward, maps related to Hajj began to appear. This scroll housed in the British Library was given in NOTES: confirmation of a pilgrimage performed by Maymanah, daughter of Muhammad al-Zardili, dating from 1433. Elaborately illuminated in gold, scrolls such as these were used to certify the holder’s completion of Hajj through visits to the holy sites of Arabia. Pictured here are Hajj vignettes of Makkah (right) and Madinah (left). The scope of the images in these pilgrimage scrolls expands into an illustrated Hajj manuscript series called Futuh al-haramayn (Conquests of the holy sites) and the Dala’il al-khayrat (Ways of edification) prayer book that became popular in the 18th century. PHOTO: The British Library Board / The Image Works

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday JUNE AUGUST 10 11 12 13 1 2 3 456 1 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1234 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

28 29 30 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Optics pioneer First London Shubbak 30 31 Ibn al-Haytham born 965 CE Festival kicks off 2011 14 5 15 6 16 7 17 8 18 9 19 10 20 11

First Jameel Prize Algerian singer in art awarded 2009 Cheb Mami born 1966 21 12 22 13 23 14 24 15 25 16 26 17 27 18

Almohad leader Abd Kyrgyz writer Chingiz al-Mu’min enters Tunis Spanish Inquisition Aitmatov and US writer Kurt 1159 CE disbanded 1834 Vonnegut meet on air 1975 28 19 29 20 30 21 1 22 2 23 3 24 4 25

Charlemagne receives King Mohammed VI an elephant from Caliph of Morocco ascends Ibn al-`Arabi born Harun-al-Rashid 802 CE the throne 1999 in Seville 1165 CE 5 26 6 27 7 28 8 29 9 30 10 31

Chairil Anwar, Indonesian Id al-Adha poet and member of “1945 Generation,” Uzbek singer and actress born 1922 Shahzoda born 1979

DHU-AL-QA`DAH – DHU-AL-HIJJAHJULY aramcoworld.com

Exceptionally large at 30 by 42 centimeters and composed of high-quality artwork, this abbreviated copy of al-Istakhri’s Kitab al-masalik wa al-mamalik (Book of routes and realms) from 1193 CE declares royalty as its intended audience. The manuscript and its 18 maps are decorated with elaborate gold calligraphy and illuminated with madder red scallops and intricate wave-designs for the seas. Of Arabo-Norman Sicilian provenance, these folios were likely prepared as a wedding gift for Constance, the daughter of Norman King Roger II. There is a good chance that Constance’s son, who went on to be the first Holy Roman Emperor, FrederickII , and was known to love travel, learned about world geography through this Arabic manuscript. Pictured are the maps of Sindh (now southeastern ) and the Caspian Sea. PHOTO: Karen C. Pinto / Leiden University Libraries

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1213 14 15 16 17 11 — 256743 18 —1 Habib Bourguiba, first president of Tunisa, born Arab American publisher 8 1903 Najeeb Diab born 1870 19 9 20 10 21 11 22 12 23 13 24 14 25 15

Dutch scholar and editor of Arabic travelogues and Egyptian poet and lyricist Kyrgystan National Singer geographical treatises Michael Ahmad Rami born 1892 Mirbek Atabekov born 1986 Jan de Goeje born 1836 26 16 27 17 28 18 29 19 1 20 2 21 3 22

American entrepreneur Indonesia proclaims Yarrow Mamout independence 1945 manumitted 1796 4 23 5 24 6 25 7 26 8 27 9 28 10 29

Caliph begins reign Physician and polymath Sitar virtuoso Vilayet Khan 634 CE al-Razi born 865 CE born 1928

11 12 JULY SEPTEMBER 1 234 1 2 345 30 31 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Lunar crater named for al-Andalus pioneer engineer 26 27 28 29 30 31 27 28 29 30 Ibn Firnas 1976

DHU-AL-HIJJAH – MUHARRAM 1442 AUGUST aramcoworld.com

During the second half of the 12th century CE, Norman King Roger II commissioned al-Sharif al-Din al-Idrisi, possibly the most-famous Arab cartographer, to produce an illustrated geography of the world: Kitab nuzhat al-mushtaq fi’kh tiraq al-afaq(The book of pleasant journeys into faraway lands). The 70 individual maps that accompany the copies of al-Idrisi’s manuscript are extremely detailed representations of the world, well ahead of their time. Not only are the al-Idrisi maps ranked among the most mimetic world maps of the later Middle Ages, they also include detailed regional maps that show an astounding understanding of the topography of each region. The example above shows the Ferghana Valley of Central Asia, and it was copied in Cairo in 1553. The inset, left, shows Konrad Miller’s late-19th-century reconstruction of what al-Idrisi’s world map would look like if all its pieces were joined together. PHOTO: Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford; INSET: Library of Congress Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 13 1234514 15 16 17

Geographer and traveller Sudanese artist Ibrahim Sunday Monday born 1145 CE el-Salahi born 1930 18 6 19 7 20 8 21 9 22 10 23 11 24 12

Algerian Amir Abd el- Prophet Muhammad reaches Kader born 1808 begins Hijra 622 CE the Indus River 1333 25 13 26 14 27 15 28 16 29 17 1 18 2 19

House of Wisdom patron Bibliophile and scholar Caliph al-Ma’mun born Ibn al-Nadim passes away 786 CE 995 CE 3 20 4 21 5 22 6 23 7 24 8 25 9 26

Coridon of Ceylon Launch of Djerbahood becomes first Muslim Project in Er-Riadh, Kingdom of to own property in Tunisia 2014 declared 1932 Cape Town 1794

10 11 12 13 AUGUST OCTOBER 1 123 27 28 29 30 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Marrakech International 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Film Festival opens 2001 30 31

MUHARRAM – SEPTEMBER aramcoworld.com

This uniquely topographical work from 16th-century illustrator Matrakçı Nasuh, who pioneered the incorporation NOTES: of the bird’s-eye cartographic illustration into Ottoman historical chronicles, shows the earliest-known depiction of Baghdad. Between 1537 and 1564, Nasuh illustrated four volumes of his Ottoman history, Cami’ü’tevar h (The gathering of histories), depicting the campaigns of three Ottoman : Bayezid II (r. 1481–1512), (r. 1512– 1520) and Suleiman I (r. 1520–1566). Completed in 1537, the first section of Nasuh’s histories illustrates Suleiman’s campaign of 1534–1535 on the frontiers of Persia and Iraq. PHOTO: University Library / Alamy

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday SEPTEMBER NOVEMBER 14 15 16 1 2 345 1 2 3 4 567 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 123 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 World’s largest 27 28 29 30 29 30 falcon hospital opens in Abu Dhabi 1999 17 4 18 5 19 6 20 7 21 8 22 9 23 10

John Greaves, translator of Arabic geographic treatises, Ottoman map of passes away 1652 by Piri Reis discovered 1929 24 11 25 12 26 13 27 14 28 15 29 16 30 17

Merieme Chadid, first Arab woman at Albanian language Lebanese poet South Pole, born 1969 society founded 1879 Mikhail Naimy born 1889 1 18 2 19 3 20 4 21 5 22 6 23 7 24

Issyk Kul Forum in First International Forum on Kyrgyzstan, addresses Snow Leopard Conservation world issues 1986 convenes 2013 8 25 9 26 10 27 11 28 12 29 13 30 14 31

Lebanon’s The Committee Rimsky-Korsakov’s of Cedar Forest Friends Scheherazade premiers founded 1985 in St. Petersburg 1888

SAFAR – RABI` I OCTOBER aramcoworld.com

Famed as the earliest-extant portolan chart map of the New World, Ottoman admiral Piri Reis’s NOTES: surprisingly accurate depiction of South America in 1513 has been the subject of many controversial studies. Scholarship has focused on connections between this map and the no-longer-extant map of the Americas by . Although this map was presented to Ottoman Sultan Selim I in 1517, this is the only portion of it that remains. It shows West Africa, the Atlantic, South America and Antarctica. PHOTO: Topkapı Saray Museum / Alamy

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 151456716 17 32 18 19 20 21

Estabanico of Morocco becomes first African Comparative religion Bollywood star Shah Rukh Ottoman tanzimat land explorer in North America pioneer born Khan born 1965 reforms begin 1839 1528 994 CE 22 8 23 9 24 10 25 11 26 12 27 13 28 14

Jameel Arts Centre Morocco, and Tunisia in Dubai opens 2018 join the United Nations 1956 29 15 1 16 2 17 3 18 4 19 5 20 6 21

For first time since 1492, Egyptian literary giant ‘Id al-Adha marked officially Palestinian photographer Lebanese singer Taha Hussein born 1889 in Spain 2010 Karimeh Abbud born 1893 Fairuz born 1935 7 22 8 23 9 24 10 25 11 26 12 27 13 28

Composer and master of classical Kurdish music Kazakh literary figure Carter and Carnarvon Kayhan Kalhor born 1963 Mirjaqip Dulatuli born 1885 open King Tut’s tomb 1922

14 15 OCTOBER DECEMBER 123 1 2 345 29 30 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Egyptian qari Abdulbasit 27 28 29 30 31 Abdussamed passes away 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1988

RABI`I — RABI`II NOVEMBER aramcoworld.com

This map of Japan is from Katip Çelebi’s 1732 geographical dictionary, Kitab-ı cihannüma (Mirror NOTES: of the world). Çelebi’s translation of Gerardus Mercator’s Atlas Minor into Ottoman Turkish in 1653–1655 heralds the twilight of Islamic cartographic innovation and the rise of copying maps in the European model. Çelebi’s copying of Western work was followed by al-Dimashqi’s copying of Joan Blaeu’s Atlas Maior in 1675–1685. PHOTO: Gerlach Books

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NOVEMBER 16 17 18 19 20 1 2 3 4 567 12345 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Bangladeshi muslin 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 King Abdulaziz Center weaving named a 29 30 for World Culture (Ithra) masterpiece of intangible officially opens 2016 heritage by UNESCO, 2013 21 6 22 7 23 8 24 9 25 10 26 11 27 12

US President Jefferson hosts Idel-Ural State unites Petra declared a UNESCO iftar for Tunisian guests Tatars, Bashkirs and World Heritage Site 1985 1805 Chuvash, 1917 28 13 29 14 30 15 1 16 2 17 3 18 4 19

Polymath and author on music theory al-Farabi born Amir Timur takes Delhi 950 CE using camel cavalry 1398 5 20 6 21 7 22 8 23 9 24 10 25 11 26

Christmas Morocco becomes first country to recognize US Zaynab (Zenobia), queen independence 1777 of Palmyra, born 1245 CE

12 13 14 15 16 JANUARY 2021 12 30 8 27 28 29 31 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Bengali artist Zainul Abedin 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 born 1914 31

RABI` II – JUMADA I DECEMBER aramcoworld.com Discover with us In November 1949, the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco) published the first issue of an interoffice newsletter named Aramco World. Over the decades that followed, as the number of Americans working with Saudi colleagues in Dhahran grew into the tens of thousands, Aramco World grew into a bimonthly educational magazine whose his- torical, geographical and cultural articles helped those employees and their families appreciate an unfamiliar land.

Today, you can experience AramcoWorld through digital and print media. Its mission remains education and the fostering of mutual appreciation among the aramcoworld.com interconnected cultures of East Subscribe to our biweekly email highlights and our bimonthly print edition and West. Download our free app All back issues are online and can be downloaded without @aramcoworld charge. Selected photographs are also available from AramcoWorld photoarchive.aramcoworld.com.

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